M4 Sherman Designer

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Ok guys,

What company designed the M4 Sherman tank? I’ve looked all over the Internet, and of all the web sites that I’ve found that mention the Sherman, they only talk about all of the companies that built it. Never once have I seen any mention of who, or what company, designed it. Anybody know? I’m guessing Chrysler, but that’s just a SWAG.

2

Actually, I believe the Sherman was designed by the Army based on their experience with the M3 Grant/Lee and that design given over to the American companies for manufacture. It was first manufactured by Ford and also Chrysler at the Detroit Tank Arsenal. Several other companies got in on the manufacture as well over the course of the war.

http://www.britannica.com/normandy/articles/Sherman_tank.html

3

Acttually the Canadains design the body of the Sherman.The turret was design by Chrisyler.I saw this on Modern Mavels enginering desaster,it was an interesting program on this.They said that the Canandains came up with the tank as the Ram which came the basis for the Sherman.Digger

4

Thanks for the reply, guys, but it seems to perpetuate the problem: who actually designed the M4? So far, two different answers, both backed up with evidence to substantiate the claim. This is getting interesting…[:-^]

5

Requirements for a successor to the M3 were drawn up by the Army’s Armored Force Board. Five design ideas based on these specs were then submitted to the AFB by Rock Island Arsenal in April 1941. The design chosen, designated Medium Tank T6, was built as a wooden mock-up in May 1941. The first pilot model was completed in September 1941 and served as the prototype for the M4 series.

So I’d say that the M4 was designed by Rock Island Arsenal.

As to the similarities between the Sherman and Ram, both were based on the M3 and retained many design aspects of that vehicle. The Sherman hull was not designed by the Canadians or copied from the Ram. At least not entirely. The first Ram tank to be evaluated in the USA was sent from Montreal Locomotive works to Aberdeen Proving Ground in July 1941, around three months after the design work began on what would become the M4 Sherman.

That said, it’s my opinion that, seeing as the T6 pilot model was not completed until September, certain changes may have been made to the T6 design as a result of the evaluation of the Ram.

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